Epic just made its AI tools a lot more connected. The health tech giant launched "Connectors," letting developers link third-party apps directly to Epic's AI assistants—Emmie, Art, and Penny. Think ambulance arrival alerts, meal ordering, and wayfinding—all handled by AI without staff jumping between systems. Connectors will be available on Epic Showroom starting March 2027.
Epic's AI ecosystem just got a major upgrade. The EHR giant launched "Connectors," a new capability that allows third-party developers to plug their apps directly into Epic's AI assistants—Emmie (patient-facing), Art (clinician-facing), and Penny (revenue cycle). Built on top of Epic's Agent Factory platform, Connectors aim to eliminate the "swivel-chair" problem, where patients, clinicians, and staff constantly toggle between multiple systems to get things done.
Here's how it works in practice: A Connector could pull an ambulance's ETA so an ED can prep in advance, let a patient order a meal through Emmie without leaving the portal, or help a surgical team check assistive device availability in real time. Health systems retain full control—security, legal, and compliance teams must review and approve each Connector before any data flows. Epic will use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) as the initial standard for building Connectors.
Quick Facts:
Why it matters: As AI agents take on more complex, multi-step workflows in healthcare, seamless cross-system integration becomes critical. Connectors position Epic as the central orchestration layer for AI in health systems—potentially reshaping how clinical and administrative workflows are automated at scale.
